Zuo Ci nodded in approval. "You have no desire for power and know when to step away at the height of success. Only someone of great wisdom and compassion could do that."
From this first conversation, Bai Xiaowen had already gleaned something about Zuo Ci.
Zuo Ci was known as one of the Three Immortals of the Late Han. His cultivation was so profound that even Insight could not read him, making his strength impossible to gauge.
Judging by his words, though, he had probably not transcended the cycle of reincarnation. He did not know that Bai Xiaowen, as an outsider, sought only Grand Unification, much less what Grand Unification meant for the natives.
Zuo Ci then took Ge Xuan and Bai Xiaowen to Crane-Cry Mountain using an escape art that carried them a thousand miles in an instant.
Ge Xuan had not exaggerated when he said his master excelled at escape arts.
In the blink of an eye, the three had gone from a pavilion southwest of Ye Capital to Sword Pass in Yizhou.
The journey seemed to have taken a heavy toll on Zuo Ci, however. Beneath a rocky hill southwest of Sword Pass, he sat cross-legged and spent some time recovering his breath.
Bai Xiaowen quietly asked Ge Xuan, "Does Elder Zuo rarely use this escape art? It seems to have exhausted him."
"If Master were traveling alone, it would never cost him so much," Ge Xuan said. "But he brought the two of us. The Daoist Gate has a saying: 'To carry a mortal is to bear a mountain.' Mortal bodies are heavy and impure."
Bai Xiaowen nodded in understanding.
Watching Zuo Ci meditate, Bai Xiaowen wondered whether the old man could help him achieve his goal.
About two hours later, Zuo Ci had recovered.
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